Night's cloak
by MeekosBuddy
Summary: Alexis is a shapeshifter. When all the shapeshifters must go into hiding, and a vampire finds her, she must run away and join three other mysterious shapeshifters. This is my first fanfiction.
1. Alexis Runs

**This is my first fan fiction so I hope you like it! Criticism is welcome! L.J. Smith owns the Night World Series, not me, sadly. But the character: Alexis is mine!**

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Alexis crouched on the floor, wiping her forehead. How could this have happened to her?! How?!

The vampire was slinking around her home, sniffing delicately as she hid behind the curtains of the large front window. This vampire had been sneaking around her neighbourhood for a while, searching for her, obviously. There was no other night person around for him to search for, no odd humans. She had been watching him carefully as he had searched for her, and had kept her guard up for days.

So it had amazed her that he was able to find her, _and_ catch her off guard.

The vampires had been searching for werewolves and shapeshifters for a little while now. Luckily, the shapeshifters had gotten a quick warning and they had all gone into hiding . . . or most of them, anyways.

Alexis shook her head slightly, almost feeling embarrassed. Apparently this town still had a bit of the Night World in it, or else she wouldn't have been found.

Suddenly the vampire's soft footsteps paused, and Alexis strained her cougar ears to tell what was happening, and quietly began to change. She stopped changing halfway through, her body coated in the tawny coloured fur of her cougar form. A tail – slightly shorter than her full cougar form's tail – swished lightly back in forth in agitation and anticipation. Agitation because he had found her, and anticipation because this would start a new game. She smirked grimly, remembering the last game.

The witch had been tailing her, and eventually found her. Alexis had toyed around with the witch for awhile, before she had simply finished the job by delivering the typical death bite of a cougar to the back of the neck.

Alexis shook herself mentally, cursing herself for losing her focus. It wasn't like her to forget when an enemy was around. She liked to play dangerous games, and that involved keeping her guard up.

But the sound of the vampire's footsteps became audible again, and Alexis's tail stopped moving, and her breath caught. The footsteps were moving towards her. Carefully - and quietly - she backed up until she was brushing against the front window.

Suddenly, the vampire swept the curtain back and lunged for her blindly. She snarled and transformed all the way, until she was entirely cougar, and tore at the vampire's face as he tore at her belly. She growled angrily, in slight pain, and whirled around to jump through the window before the vampire could get her. The window shattered around her, slicing through her fur and drawing blood. She clenched her teeth and ground them together as she sprinted to the forest behind the houses across the street.

Behind her she could hear the vampire cursing as he stepped through the broken window onto the glass strewn lawn. She smiled to herself, but kept sprinting towards the forest, and then disappeared into it.

As she neared being about a mile in, a white blur knocked her to the side and dazed her. Caught off guard, she lay on the ground blankly, too dizzy to do anything. The animal - she couldn't tell what it was, her eyes were watering so badly - pinned her down and clamped its jaws around her neck.

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**Ooh suspensful! Well not really. But thanks for reading! Review if you'd like!**


	2. Don't move

1**Of course, we all know that I don't own the Night World Series, that L.J. Smith does. But these characters are mine: Alexis, Shikyo, Simon, Dan. Anyways, I'd like to thank my friend, who has been helping me with this story. **

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_As she neared being about a mile in, a white blur knocked her to the side and dazed her. Caught off guard, she lay on the ground blankly, too dizzy to do anything. The animal - she couldn't tell what it was, her eyes were watering so badly - pinned her down and clamped its jaws around her neck._

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_Don't move, _said a soft voice, obviously coming from the animal. She must be a shapeshifter, then, Alexis concluded.

_I won't, _she replied, her eyes still watering badly.

_Good. _Alexis could hear the smile in the animal's voice. _What's your name?_

_Alexis._ She held still as another animal came over to her. _I swear, I'm not with anyone else. It's just me here._

_Oh, we know that. Alexis, are you a Daybreaker? _The same voice seemed smug.

Alexis's eyes narrowed. _No. And if you are, you might as well kill me because I will not -_

_We aren't Daybreakers. _The animal's weight lifted from Alexis and the jaws around her neck left. As Alexis sat up, her eyes focused, and the white blur turned out to be a beautiful, small, white Bengal tiger with a handsome lynx and grey wolf nearby. They watched her as she got up on her four legs and looked towards them. The lynx then stepped forward.

_Hello Alexis. _The voice was obviously a boy's voice - she could tell that right away. _I'm Dan. _The lynx bared its teeth at her in what was supposed to be a smile.

Then the wolf came forward and bared its teeth just like Dan had. _And I'm Simon._

_Uh...nice to meet you two. Who's that? _She flicked her tail towards the small tiger.

The lynx, Dan, looked quickly at the tiger who was padding softly around the area, looking impatient. _That's our alpha, _he answered.

_Her name is Shikyo! _Simon chimed in.

At her name, the tiger glanced at them and walked towards them. _Yeah. I was the one who attacked you. Anyways, you're joining our group._

_What?! I don't want to join your group!_

Shikyo glared at her darkly._ You're joining, or we have to kill you. _Alexis hesitated, thinking, and Shikyo smirked slightly and continued. _Hmm, you like playing deadly games, don't you? Then let's just see who would last longer in this game: us or you? _She leaped suddenly at Alexis and pinned her down again, letting her paw push down on her throat. As if on cue, Dan and Simon circled around them, their eyes trained on Alexis as she struggled to breath.

_Fine!_ she cried out mentally. _I'll join your group! _Instantly Shikyo's paw disappeared from her neck and Alexis rolled onto her feet, coughing and taking in deep breaths.

Shikyo watched her slowly get up.

Alexis coughed a few more times as Dan and Simon walked towards Shikyo. She followed, but a meter or so behind them. Dan looked back at her once and cocked his head to the side curiously, as if he was wondering why she wasn't walking with them. She shook her head and just kept walking, but with her head down.

Soon they came upon a small meadow. This seemed to be their home because they relaxed and slowed down. Shikyo looked back at them all, then broke into a quick sprint. Alexis stared after her, amazed by the speed and grace that Shikyo had as she ran. No wonder she looked like a blur when she attacked me, Alexis thought absently as she began to follow her.

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**So this is the story so far, I hope you have liked it so far. Criticism is welcome, I need to improve my writing! Also, I will try to update this as often as possible, but when I get writer's block it takes me a while to get rid of it. **


	3. New Home

**Ok this chapter is much longer than the others because usually I write one big blurb and then divide it up into chapters. So this one I just couldn't find a way to divide it in two.**

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The four ran until they came to the edge of the forest again, where they slowed and Shikyo, Dan, and Simon morphed into their human forms. Alexis stared blankly at them.

Dan had short, tan hair and laughing light brown eyes. He was wearing a green shirt and camouflage shorts, and he was tall and well-muscled.

Simon had messy dark hair and warm amber eyes. He wore a blue sweater and black shorts, and he, too, was tall and well-muscled.

Shikyo was simply breathtaking. She had straight black hair, the colour of her stripes in her tiger form, and a very pale face - so pale that it looked white. Her eyes were a deep, piercing blue, and she was tall and very thin. She was wearing a black hoodie over her black shorts.

The three of them stared at Alexis as she changed.

Alexis had pretty tawny brown curls that fell to her shoulders, she was tanned, and had hard golden eyes. She was fairly tall, but nothing compared to Dan or Simon. She was wearing a black T-shirt and black kapris, and her tawny hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Now that Alexis compared the three, Shikyo looked very sickly. She couldn't help but worry a bit...

"I'm still the only dog! Ugh, Alexis, why'd you have to be a cat?" Simon was complaining as he grinned. Dan elbowed him lightly, laughing as they walked towards a large tree.

Shikyo was already at the base of the tree, waiting for them as Alexis tailed Dan and Simon. She glanced at her and smiled briefly. "We live here," she told Alexis, gesturing to the huge tree house perched in the tree. It was made entirely of wood, and had several window and a door. There was a small deck surrounding the house, and Alexis thought she saw a chimney.

Shikyo grimaced lightly and leaped, sailing through the air at a seemingly impossible height. She landed lightly on the deck, and beckoned the others up.

Dan and then Simon jumped up, copying her leap easily. Alexis stared up, wondering how she was supposed to get up, and knowing she couldn't jump like them, even in her cougar form.

"Come on up!" Dan called, looking down at her. "Use your legs!"

"Dan, just go get her," Shikyo's voice called; she had disappeared into the tree house. Dan shrugged and dropped down, landing lightly next to Alexis.

He scooped her up into his arms, then leaped, landing near the edge of the deck. He set Alexis down gently and walked into the house with Simon, expecting Alexis to follow. She did.

Inside was a large room, with one other door across the room. There were three hammocks strung in the far corner of the room, one blue, one red, and one black. A dresser with five drawers was next to the hammocks, over flowing with multi-coloured clothes in the top three drawers. In the corner to Alexis' right seemed to be a kitchen, complete with a mini fridge, a camping oven, and somehow, a sink. A small table sat nearby with six chairs, and it was covered in dishes, cloths, papers, and a map. In the middle of the room was a large carpet, a few more chairs placed around it and a tiny coffee table in the center of the chairs. To Alexis' left was a huge bookshelf, filled with papers and books and all kinds of knickknacks.

Shikyo was pulling things out from a bin next to the bookshelf, and sat up with a triumphant smile as she held up a big blob of green. "I hope you like green," she smiled. "It's now your colour." She threw the green thing at Alexis and closed the bin, walking to the kitchen area. Alexis unraveled the green thing and saw that it was a hammock, just like the other three in the room.

Simon went to the table, sitting at its head and sorting through some maps and papers. Dan glanced at her as he walked over to Shikyo. "Well, put it up," he told her.

"Uh...ok," she agreed, and walked to the other hammocks. She noticed that the blue and black hammocks were attached to a large branch, protruding through the floor and up through the roof as well, and to the wall nearest by the kitchen area, and that the red one was attached to another branch and a different wall. She attached her hammock just like the red one, except hers was farther from the other hammocks.

Shikyo was mixing something together in a pot, as Dan pushed some papers to the side of the table and cleared a place for four. Simon picked up most of the papers and the map, bringing it to the shelf.

Alexis walked over to them, smiling tentatively. "I can set the table, if you want," she offered.

"It's fine, that's Dan's job," Simon answered. "But could you clean some of the dishes? We've gotten a bit behind." He grinned and grabbed the rest of the papers littering the table.

Alexis shrugged, wanting to do her part. "Sure." She walked to the sink, and began to clean it, as Shikyo added some sliced bits of potato into the pot.

"It's nice to have some extra help," Shikyo commented as everyone continued their jobs. Dan was now filling each glass with punch, as Simon folded up the cloths that were on the table. "Dan usually gets all the soft, easy jobs and Simon and I do the harder, or longer jobs around here," she whispered to Alexis lightly.

Alexis smiled, feeling welcome.

Soon everyone was done their jobs and they were sitting around the table as Shikyo served them some of her stew she had been making in the pot. She gave them each quite a bit, emptying the pot on Alexis' plate.

"Sorry about the food," she apologized, sitting next to Simon. "We can't have the greatest of meals when we aren't able to buy a lot of food often."

"In fact," Dan interrupted, "We grow quite a few vegetables and some fruits. I'm not so bad at it."

"He's actually pretty good at growing vegetables and fruits," Simon commented after swallowing some stew. "That's what he does most of the time during the summer."

Dan shrugged. "I don't mind. It's easier than some of the work around here." He eyed Shikyo with a grin.

"He means sneaking around in the town just to wash our clothes and buy some food," Shikyo explained at Alexis' expression. "Speaking of which, we'll have to do soon. Next sunny day, guys. We have to get groceries and some clothes for Alexis, I think."

Alexis looked down at her ragged shirt and nodded slightly. "Yeah, I kind of do need some clothes. But I have a house in the town that we could just take them from, instead of wasting money on getting new clothes. There's also some food and money we could get."

Shikyo exchanged a glance with Simon and Dan. "Where's your home?" Simon asked.

"When we come out of the woods, pretty much across the street."

Shikyo, Dan and Simon looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I _guess_ we could go there...," Shikyo said hesitantly. "We'd just have to be very careful, and take everything that could be useful to us. That means we should probably go at night. How about...tonight? They won't be expecting you to return so early."

"But...but you'll have no time to prepare! You won't be ready!" Alexis protested, caught off guard.

"We'll be fine," Dan replied lazily as he sank back in his chair, his hands behind his head. Simon looked calm, too.

Alexis gaped at them, surprised, as the three rose and headed towards the door.

Simon looked back at her as Shikyo and Dan dropped to the ground. "Well, are you coming?"

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**Please review I like reading them :)**

**A special round of applause to my assistant!! Haha, this is just my friend that is helping but she is now just called South, ok? :) **

**It might take me a little longer to update this time...  
**


	4. Belongings

The four shape shifters crouched in the bushes across from Alexis' house. Shikyo, in her small tiger form, stalked forward and entered the fair-sized house, the others behind her. Once inside, they all morphed into their human forms and crept around warily.

"Dan, you go get as much food as possible. Especially non-perishable stuff. Alexis, you're getting clothes and all the money you can find. Simon, find any useful books or more paper and pens. I'm looking for some blankets and anything else we might find useful. If you see anything that we're supposed to be looking for, grab it. Meet back here in eight minutes, ok?" Shikyo whispered quickly, handing everyone a couple of black bags. Each one of them nodded and headed for a certain area.

Alexis headed to her room quickly, and tore open her dresser drawers. She crammed as many clothes as she could into one bag, along with some extra shoes, sweaters, and two coats. She ran to her piggy bank and dropped it into the second bag, ignoring the small smashing noise. Then she raced around the room and gathered the rest of her money. She ripped the sheets from her bed, squashing them into the bag and then grabbed her favourite book and pushed it in, too.

_What else can I take? What else should I take?_ She thought, glancing around the room. _Hmm... I have a small tarp in the shed. Maybe that would be useful! _She sprinted quickly to her shed and pulled the tarp out, dragging it inside and tossing it on top of the full bags.

Alexis glanced at her watch and decided that she should bring her stuff to the front hall. She pulled her two full bags and the tarp to the front hall, where Shikyo, Dan, and Simon were already gathered.

Only one of Simon's bags were filled with books and papers, the other three had blankets, raincoats, rubber boots, umbrellas, a radio, and wood stuffed in them.

Dan's four bags were filled with food, and he had a cooler beside him. One of the bags had a few pots and pans in them, and a pair of oven mitts.

Shikyo's bags were loaded with blankets, jackets, clothes, cans of food, light bulbs, candles, matches, sun glasses, and what looked like a few bottles of sun screen.

"Good call on the tarp," Shikyo whispered to Alexis. "Stuff it into one of your empty bags, and Dan, try to cover up that cooler with black."

Everyone nodded and gathered their bags, getting ready to leave.

"Come on, let's go!" Shikyo hissed, already leaving. She ran quickly across the street and beckoned for the others to follow. They did, weighted down by their bags, and began running to their home.


	5. In the Dark

1 The four shape shifters crouched in the bushes across from Alexis' house. Shikyo, in her small tiger form, stalked forward and entered the fair-sized house, the others behind her. Once inside, they all morphed into their human forms and crept around warily.

"Dan, you go get as much food as possible. Especially non-perishable stuff. Alexis, you're getting clothes and all the money you can find. Simon, find any useful books or more paper and pens. I'm looking for some blankets and anything else we might find useful. If you see anything that we're supposed to be looking for, grab it. Meet back here in eight minutes, ok?" Shikyo whispered quickly, handing everyone a couple of black bags. Each one of them nodded and headed for a certain area.

Alexis headed to her room quickly, and tore open her dresser drawers. She crammed as many clothes as she could into one bag, along with some extra shoes, sweaters, and two coats. She ran to her piggy bank and dropped it into the second bag, ignoring the small smashing noise. Then she raced around the room and gathered the rest of her money. She ripped the sheets from her bed, squashing them into the bag and then grabbed her favourite book and pushed it in, too.

_What else can I take? What else should I take?_ She thought, glancing around the room. _Hmm... I have a small tarp in the shed. Maybe that would be useful! _She sprinted quickly to her shed and pulled the tarp out, dragging it inside and tossing it on top of the full bags.

Alexis glanced at her watch and decided that she should bring her stuff to the front hall. She pulled her two full bags and the tarp to the front hall, where Shikyo, Dan, and Simon were already gathered.

Only one of Simon's bags were filled with books and papers, the other three had blankets, raincoats, rubber boots, umbrellas, a radio, and wood stuffed in them.

Dan's four bags were filled with food, and he had a cooler beside him. One of the bags had a few pots and pans in them, and a pair of oven mitts.

Shikyo's bags were loaded with blankets, jackets, clothes, cans of food, light bulbs, candles, matches, sun glasses, and what looked like a few bottles of sun screen.

"Good call on the tarp," Shikyo whispered to Alexis. "Stuff it into one of your empty bags, and Dan, try to cover up that cooler with black."

Everyone nodded and gathered their bags, getting ready to leave.

"Come on, let's go!" Shikyo hissed, already leaving. She ran quickly across the street and beckoned for the others to follow. They did, weighted down by their bags, and began running to their home.

"I thought you might want this," Shikyo said softly to Alexis as she handed her a picture of Alexis and her mom and dad. "Maybe you don't, but it might be nice for you to have a reminder of home here."

She smiled lightly and finished unloading her bags into the storage room, which had been the door across from the entrance.

Simon had a book open on his lap as he sat in one of the chairs surrounding the coffee table, a flashlight in his hand. Alexis sat up in her green hammock, unable to sleep, as Daniel snored away in his hammock and Shikyo curled up in hers – both sound asleep.

Alexis sighed and rubbed her eyes, sliding out of her hammock and walking over to Simon. "What are you reading?" she muttered sleepily.

He looked up, closing the book. "Well... it's actually one of my old books, from when I was a kid. It's a bunch of little kid stories put together in a book." He smiled, though he looked a bit embarrassed.

Alexis smiled sleepily. "It's nice that you got to keep something from your past."

"Yeah, I guess so," Simon replied, looking down at the plain cover. "I suppose it reminds me of my family and my old life."

Alexis nodded silently, sitting on a chair across from him. She looked directly at Simon as he stared down almost sadly at the book. "Did anything happen to them? Or–"

"My family was entirely human," he answered, cutting her off. "I don't know how it's possible, but they were. My dad was so proud of me, and my mom. But...my brother was a bit jealous. I really didn't try to make him jealous," he added quickly. "But my dad would often insist for me to change, and my brother would just hate me for it." He put his head in his hands, looking at the floor. "Sometimes I would hate myself for it, too," he whispered.

Alexis eased herself out of the chair, going to his side and sitting on the chair's armrest. "It's not your fault you are a shapeshifter, Simon. My mom wasn't a shapeshifter at all," she told him softly, attempting to comfort him.

"Really?" Simon asked cautiously, looking upwards a little. "What was she, then?"

She fidgeted, taking her turn to look down. "A werewolf. But she was still extremely nice and a good mom."

He returned his gaze to the floor, brooding. Alexis sighed, getting up from her spot and returning to her hammock. "Are you going to sleep soon?"

Simon glanced up with a half-smile on his face. "Nope. I find it really hard to sleep on a full moon." He grinned and stood up. "I'm just kidding, but tonight I really am not very tired. I'm just going to read, ok?"

Alexis shrugged; it wasn't her business. "Sure." She plopped down in her hammock, swinging back and forth a bit as she watched him get another book. "Hey, how did this little group of...ours, I guess I should say – get started?"

Simon had returned to the chair with a thick book in his hands, but he looked up at her with his amber eyes almost looking mischievous. "Shikyo found me wandering around this forest and attacked me, but she thought I'd be useful so she let me stick around with her. She did practically the same thing with Dan, and with you. You definitely weren't the first one she has tackled."

"Oh," Alexis replied blankly, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as she pulled her feet into the hammock.

"Yup." Simon's voice sounded amused, so to keep herself from making a fool of herself, she remained silent and curled up under her blanket.

"Goodnight, Simon," she muttered sleepily, her eyes already closing.

Simon's tone was patronizing. "Goodnight, Alexis."

She sighed quietly and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.


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